Monday, July 25, 2016

Chocexchange: Online Curator for Craft Chocolate in Canada

Recently, I told you about a growing number of retailers who are devoted to selling bean-to-bar craft chocolate. This trend is a direct result of the rapid growth in the number of small chocolate-makers, not only across the U.S. and Canada, but also all across the world. And so I developed a list to keep track of these retailers, so we can all know where to buy bean-to-bar chocolate to get a taste of this still-growing trend.

Personally, I rely on these 'curators' of craft chocolate because I live on an island in Northern Ontario, and can't just pop down to Toronto's Soma Chocolatemaker whenever I want. I also enjoy being able to buy a variety of chocolate made from different chocolate makers and pay only one shipping fee. When I started out on my mission to taste all the bean-to-bar chocolate that I can, I had to buy direct from each company, which cost an arm and a leg in shipping fees. So these new specialty retailers of craft chocolate, particularly the online ones, have made my life a lot easier (and less expensive).

I recently learned about a new online retailer based in Montreal called Chocexchange. This is a curated e-commerce marketplace that is intended to connect "curious chocolate eaters with Earth's best chocolate shops." Not only can you purchase individual chocolate bars online, but you can also buy gifts and monthly subscriptions (which, in my opinion, is the best gift for any chocolate lover).

Chocexchange owner, Josh Rubin, stocks many chocolate bars that cannot be found easily in Canada, including Izard Chocolate's beautiful creations, Pump St. Bakery's chocolate bars, Twenty-Four Blackbirds, as well as chocolate by Canadian chocolate makers such as Vancouver-based East Van Roasters, and Ontario's award-winning Hummingbird Chocolatemaker.

Below is an overview and some tasting notes of the chocolate bars that I purchased from Chocexchange. For more information or to make an online purchase, visit the website at: https://chocexchange.com/.

Twenty-Four Blackbirds chocolate comes in two forms on ChocExchange, a Madagascar 75% single origin chocolate and the Cedeno, an Ecuadorian origin chocolate bar. There is a lovely, high cocoa butter content in the Madagascar. The Ecuadorian chocolate is stiffer, compared to Madagascar, which is what I've become accustomed to. And oddly, the Ecuadorian chocolate was a bit fruity and organic and reminded me more of a Dominican-origin chocolate.

The unique Pump St. Bakery Madagascar Criollo 74% is made with cacao from Akesson's Organic Estate. The most unique part is the colour of the chocolate: although a 74% dark chocolate, this bar is an amazingly light shade of milk chocolate with a reddish hue. It's quite shocking to open the package and see this colour, even though most Madagascar Criollo chocolate bars are lighter and redder in colour than the average dark chocolate, but this one is absolutely different than most bars. I assume the cocoa beans used to make it had an extremely high percentage of white beans. As for the taste of the Madagascar Criollo 74%, it was quite nice as well. A little spice and organic flavours upfront, with only a light raspberry taste, not nearly as strong as many of the Madagascar chocolate bars I've become accustomed to.

Pump St. Bakery's Grenada 70% chocolate bar is also quite unique. It is very fruity, with red fruit and blackberry flavours, including a little red grape flavour. A little acidic but definitely delicate. The colour is a stark contrast to the Madagascar Criollo, having nearly a black shade. The cacao came from Crayfish Bay Organic Estate. If you have tasted Grenada Chocolate Company's single origin chocolate, this will be a different experience; the chocolate is more delicate in nature, a little less pronounced in flavour, and yet telling of the single plantation from where the cacao came.

Izard Chocolate makes a lovely line-up of dark chocolate bars, which I purchased on ChocExchange. You can read my recent review here.

About Me

I am on a mission to taste all of the world's best chocolate, and to share what I have learned with you! As a chocolatier, pastry professional and business owner with an obsession for tasting new kinds of chocolate daily, and with creating something new in my commercial kitchen every week, I can share all sorts of tips, tricks and techniques for 'chocolatiering', bean-to-bar chocolate making, and for baking. Join me on this journey for recipes, reviews, and chocolaty gift ideas by way of my chocolate blog (www.ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com), my facebook page (The Ultimate Chocolate Blog), twitter (@ultimatelychoc) or Intagram (@ultimatelychocolate).
And be sure to check out the web site of Ultimately Chocolate, my chocolate and pastry business (www.ultimatelychocolate.com) in Canada. Oh, and I LOVE to make Piecaken and share my recipes at www.piecaken.blogspot.com.